Bald Butt- Molt?

[jhmoore]

I have 7 hens, and they are in two different coops (3 in one, 4 in the other). One of my BR hens is molting really hard, and seems a little late to me. My other BR hen (in the other coop) just finished molting, and has grown most of her feathers back in. I noticed that this BR that just started molting has a completely bald butt. Now, all my hens are 15 months old, so this is their first big molt. I have not seen a bald butt on any of the other hens during their molt. Is this normal? Or should I be concerned? Otherwise, she loos good and is acting fine. She is eating and drinking normally, still enjoying treats, and I've not seen any of the others pick on her at all. She's not the top hen, but she's not the bottom either.

My hens are all on Layena, and I supplement with a bit of scratch on the super cold days. They also get any leftover fruits, veggies or grains we have. I regularly dust with food grade DE. I don't see any lice or mites. Should I be concerned? Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[theFox]

Quote:
You really should lay off the treats as birds undergoing molt need more protein not less and that is what the treats amount too. You can find higher protein level feeds than Layena.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Do you have a rooster? Sometimes they wear the feathers off the back ends of hens, some more than others if they were their best girlfriends. Otherwise, it may just be this hen's pattern of molting. My hens molted at different times & in different ways this fall, some more severely than others. One hen went almost completely bald but eventually grew back all her feathers. As long as the skin looks healthy & she isn't getting pecked on the feathers should grow back soon.

 

[lauralou]

I have a couple of hens that are molting hard right now too. One has a rather bald butt. Not completely bald, but pretty sad nonetheless. I can see that new feathers are growing back in. All of my other ladies molted earlier, and molted slower than these two. It was much less dramatic.

So if you don't see any creepy-crawlies on her, I wouldn't really worry too much. Give her a little time. If her feathers don't start growing back in, then you can start to worry.

(Meat scraps are good for upping the protein level for molting birds.)

 

[jhmoore]

Thanks for the feedback. Nope, no rooster here. I'm hoping you're right, and it's just her funny molting pattern. The skin looks healthy, and no one is bothering her. I'll concentrate on higher protein supplementation for now. I had actually given them the ham bone from Christmas this morning, before writing this. They, like last year with the ham bone, devoured any bits of meat that were on it. So, hopefully that will help. Thanks.